Drag racing Question

La Hot Rods

Well Seasoned Member
Supporting Member 15
Is this a hydraulic cam?
How tight of preload on the lifters?
Can't you loosen them and get more RPM?
 

425/409ER

Well Known Member
Is this a hydraulic cam?
How tight of preload on the lifters?
Can't you loosen them and get more RPM?

No it's a solid lifter cam. I am not to big on hyd. cams as I cannot find ones with real fast ramps that I like. The one I am using is a CC 282S .561 lift and 236°@.050 on a 110° LCA. The funny thing about the Magnum cams is that they are the old Comp variable duration cams. I found this out when talking with Scooter Brothers one day at a show. I took out the magazine I had and the specs were the same except that the lash ranged from .015 to .030, Scooter said Yes, you can set them any place in that range and it will not hurt anything. I can pull this 461 to 6200 but there is not much power above that. I have another Crower cam I want to try and it might work better as it's on a 105°LCA and that will make more lower end torque. A touch longer duration also 242°I and 250°E at .050, the air should be much better this time than last year, right now the corrected alt. is -379 ft. Sat is going to be about the same when I get to the track.
 

425/409ER

Well Known Member
I bet you would be surprised what some bigger heads would do. :brow:burnout

I am not so sure that with the compression and all else were the same that with some 781's it would not do much better maybe a tenth or so. I do think if the compression on this engine were in the 10.0 range that would help a ton. My NHRA stocker buddy has a 69 Camaro with a 10 to 1 Peanut Port 461 engine with a lousey old school Torker that sits crooked on it, that car ran 11.31@119 with an 850 VS carb. I think with an Air Gap and a better carb it would go 11 flat.
 

425/409ER

Well Known Member
Went out today and got to test a couple of things.
Car went the best of 11.83@112, I did start to just flash the converter and it dropped my 60ft times to 1.57
I do know that by the 7.44 eight mile time it's slow in the last part of the track so I am going to change the Intake to a single plane as I do not need the super low end tq. I am also going to change the converter also. Not too bad for 7.9 compression truck engine. I might try 87 oct. or 91 with the 10% alcohol to see if I can get a little more out of it. Nothing broke so I am happy.
 

425/409ER

Well Known Member
I thought I would update this, the best was 11.80 this year and yes I need to work on either getting the car to pull through the last part of the 1/4 by taking some gear out of the car or making the engine produce more power over the curve instead of dropping off hard at 6K. I have some new heads that have the bigger valves and a lot more porting on the exhaust side as Vortecpro says helps with this problem as he and the same thing happen to his engine so by porting the exhaust more that took car of it.
 

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Skip FIx

Well Known Member
Many of the Pontiac guys have gone just as fast(torque type motors like this one) dropping the ratio. Heck one guy with a fairly street friendly Trans Am is deep 11s with 3.08s!

That said I run a Hoposier 30/9 radial slick(the "short" 29.5) on my Trans Am so I did not have to pull the 4.11s when I went to the 455 from a 400.
 

425/409ER

Well Known Member
Many of the Pontiac guys have gone just as fast(torque type motors like this one) dropping the ratio. Heck one guy with a fairly street friendly Trans Am is deep 11s with 3.08s!

That said I run a Hoposier 30/9 radial slick(the "short" 29.5) on my Trans Am so I did not have to pull the 4.11s when I went to the 455 from a 400.

That's part of the plan. Got a set of 30X9's from a NHRA stocker buddy, I will do a test run with them next spring. Yup this looks to be a torque motor, was kind of thinking that when I put it together. I remember racing my bird with a different 454, I had 26X8's and switched to 28X9's and the car picked up all the way around. I think this will be the same.
 

Deadwolf

Well Known Member
Interesting. I'm building a drag car using a 1990 Firebird or third gen body. Got the roll bar in it already from previous owner, but I need to make a couple mods to make it easier to get in and out of the car. Interior is gutted, no heat or AC. Going to run a built 350 for the first season then spray it with a 150 HP shot for the second season if I can get a rear end swap. Eventually want to drop a built Pontiac 455 in it or maybe get the aluminum AII pontiac block. Current rear end is the 10 bolt 7.5" rear with posi and 4.56 gears, those start to break at around 450 Ft lbs of torque. Transmission is a TH 350 with 3500 stall converter. Car is not going to like the highway at all with the 4.56, but when I swap the rear gears I'm thinking 3.73 with a 700R4.
 

425/409ER

Well Known Member
Interesting. I'm building a drag car using a 1990 Firebird or third gen body. Got the roll bar in it already from previous owner, but I need to make a couple mods to make it easier to get in and out of the car. Interior is gutted, no heat or AC. Going to run a built 350 for the first season then spray it with a 150 HP shot for the second season if I can get a rear end swap. Eventually want to drop a built Pontiac 455 in it or maybe get the aluminum AII pontiac block. Current rear end is the 10 bolt 7.5" rear with posi and 4.56 gears, those start to break at around 450 Ft lbs of torque. Transmission is a TH 350 with 3500 stall converter. Car is not going to like the highway at all with the 4.56, but when I swap the rear gears I'm thinking 3.73 with a 700R4.


What is your goal for the car?, a 350 is a great power plant for a 3rd gen. Putting a Pontiac engine can be done but it's a lot of work and nobody makes headers for that body. Using a 700r4 with 3.73 gears would be a way better choice that 4.56's on the street.
 

Deadwolf

Well Known Member
What is your goal for the car?, a 350 is a great power plant for a 3rd gen. Putting a Pontiac engine can be done but it's a lot of work and nobody makes headers for that body. Using a 700r4 with 3.73 gears would be a way better choice that 4.56's on the street.

Initially get the car reliably in the low 10's. I don't want to mess with all the NHRA tech inspections you get into when you get under 10 seconds. After I get there with the SBC I want to see if I can do it with a more unique motor like the Pontiac motor all naturally aspirated. All this while keeping the car street legal in the loosest of terms. The lights are going to work, but the interior will be gutted except for driver and front passenger seat. A gauge package and roll bar. No extra comforts in the car like AC or heat. I will probably have to baby it from a start to keep from squealing tires at every stop sign and stop light. I would love to get it reliable enough to maybe do a power tour or something like it in the future.

Actually I found a company that makes custom motor mounts to put a poncho in the third gens using the stock SBC V8 frame towers. They keep the poncho lower in the body to alleviate hood clearance issues. The same company also makes a special set of headers for the conversion.
 

425/409ER

Well Known Member
Initially get the car reliably in the low 10's. I don't want to mess with all the NHRA tech inspections you get into when you get under 10 seconds. After I get there with the SBC I want to see if I can do it with a more unique motor like the Pontiac motor all naturally aspirated. All this while keeping the car street legal in the loosest of terms. The lights are going to work, but the interior will be gutted except for driver and front passenger seat. A gauge package and roll bar. No extra comforts in the car like AC or heat. I will probably have to baby it from a start to keep from squealing tires at every stop sign and stop light. I would love to get it reliable enough to maybe do a power tour or something like it in the future.

Actually I found a company that makes custom motor mounts to put a poncho in the third gens using the stock SBC V8 frame towers. They keep the poncho lower in the body to alleviate hood clearance issues. The same company also makes a special set of headers for the conversion.

That's pretty cool you can get headers and mounts for the Pontiac engine, makes the swap a whole bunch easier. To go low 10's will not be too hard with the 350 if you are going to spray it. My 9 to 1 358 went 10.04@136 with a 200 shot a few years ago and it was nothing fancy. You will most likely bust that 7.5 with a ton of power so that would be the thing I would get before doing and NOS shots. One thing that will keep it going for a little while is not to make the transmission shift real hard.
 

Don Jacks

Well Seasoned Member
Supporting Member 3
A good alternative would be to leave the '56's in and use the 700r4 trans.This would allow "Power Cruise"type driving because when in high]od] your 4.56's would become 3.19-1.
 

Deadwolf

Well Known Member
That's pretty cool you can get headers and mounts for the Pontiac engine, makes the swap a whole bunch easier. To go low 10's will not be too hard with the 350 if you are going to spray it. My 9 to 1 358 went 10.04@136 with a 200 shot a few years ago and it was nothing fancy. You will most likely bust that 7.5 with a ton of power so that would be the thing I would get before doing and NOS shots. One thing that will keep it going for a little while is not to make the transmission shift real hard.

for 2019 I am just going to run motor and see what we can get. Want to get this car on the road and making passes for less than 5k. Next winter I will upgrade to a 9" or dana and add an NOS system. When I upgrade the rear I will probably go with 4.11 or 3.73 rear gears. That will set me up for the 2020 season. Then I will start building a big inch Pontiac engine and see about getting it in for either the 2021 or 2022 season and run straight big inch motor. At the same time as the engine swap I will probably go with a 700-R4 just cause it can handle a little more abuse than a 200-R4. Maybe around 2022 or 2023 try signing up for a power tour.
 
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